Sen. Arlen Specter took his turn to question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan Tuesday. It appears that Specter did not get all the answers he was looking for, although he does credit Kagan for a quick wit.

On the issue of separation of powers, one of Specter's foremost concerns, Kagan would not say whether it was "disrespectful" for the Supreme Court not to show deference to Congress.

SPECTER:

What is your thinking on disrespect for the Congress when we take a Supreme Court decision and we structure a law based on those standards with the customary deference due Congress on fact finding? Isn't that really what Justice Stevens calls is, disrespect?

KAGAN: Well, Senator Specter, as you know, I argued that case, as you know. I filed briefs on behalf of the United States in that case. And in those briefs, the government made a similar kind of argument, that great deference was due to -- to Congress in its -- in the creation of the quite voluminous...

SPECTER: Ms. Kagan, I know what you said. You've talked about that a great deal. My question is very pointed: Wasn't that disrespectful?

KAGAN: Senator Specter, as I suggested before, when I walked up to that podium in Citizens United, I thought we had extremely strong arguments. I was acting as an advocate, of course, but I -- I thought we had very strong arguments.

SPECTER: Ms. Kagan, I'm going to move on. I know all of that. The point that I am trying to find out from you is what deference you would show to congressional fact-finding. Let me move on.

KAGAN: Well, may I -- may I try again? Because I think that the answer to that is great deference to congressional fact-finding.

SPECTER: Well, was it disrespectful or not?

KAGAN: Well, again, I don't want to characterize what the Supreme Court did.

SPECTER:

Well, I want to move on. If you don't want to characterize, I want to ask my next question.

Then later on in his questioning, he again says he is just going to move on to another question, saying "I don't think I'm making too much progress."

But Specter was heartened by Kagan's support for allowing cameras inside the Supreme Court, another one of Specter's favorite topics.

SPECTER: There are a lot of those who have been favorably disposed to it -- or at least have acknowledged its inevitability -- and remind them that they all appeared on television this year on C-SPAN, and most of them -- many of them have appeared over the years selling books and being in a variety of situations.

KAGAN: It means I'd have to get my hair done more often, Senator Specter.

SPECTER: Let me commend you on that last comment. And I say that seriously. You have shown a really admirable sense of humor, and I think that is really important. And as Senator Schumer said yesterday, we're looking for somebody who can moderate the court, and a little humor would do them a lot of good.

Categories:Washington D.C.
Posted by Nicole Radzievich at 06:28:52 PM on June 28, 2010

Congressman Charlie Dent on Monday pressed his Democratic opponent, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, on where he stands on “cap and trade” bill that the House passed a year ago last Saturday.

The bill Dent had referenced seeks to cut greenhouse emissions and promote the development of renewable energy. One of the ways the bill sets out to cap companies at certain emission levels. Companies would then be able to buy the unused emission levels from other companies to meet those limits.

Supporters heralded the bill as the most important piece of environmental and energy legislation ever considered; critics derailed the bill an “energy tax” on consumers and businesses. Dent referenced a PUC letter, signed by three of five commissioners, that predicted Pennsylvania would lose 66,000 jobs if enacted.

“Charlie Dent continues to stand firmly against this legislation because the entire idea of the bill is to increase Americans’ energy costs,” the release says. “Rather than bringing down the cost of alternative and renewable energy, cap and trade would raise the price of traditional energy sources. Pennsylvania and other industrial states would be the hardest hit.”

Turns out Dent and Callahan may not be too far apart on cap and trade.

In response to the release Monday, Callahan campaign manager Justin Schall said, while the 2009 energy bill had a lot of good ideas in it, Callahan would have voted against the energy bill because of the cap and trade.

“In this economy, we can’t do anything that would endanger jobs or derail the economy,” Schall said.

Schall said he expects to see more differences between Dent and Callahan to develop on energy issues as the campaign continues, but cap and trade isn’t one of them.

The House vote the bill, which was backed by President Obama had fallen along party lines. It’s languished in the Senate since. The Los Angeles Timesreported Sunday that the Senate Democrats will begin work this week on a "sweeping energy bill" that could include a "modest" cap on emissions.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent and his Democratic opponent, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, are having a bit of trouble collaborating on a bipartisan letter about BP-related campaign contributions in the wake of the Gulf oil spill.

In a draft Dent released Friday morning, Dent changed, among other things, the salutation from "To Whom It May Concern" to "President Obama" and pointed out that Obama took more than $75,000 from BP PACs and executives.

“Since you are the biggest recipient of BP’s contributions, we both believe that you could se the biggest and best example – by donating these contributions to Gulf Coast families in order to avoid even an appearance of impropriety or opportunity of undue influence,” Dent writes.

"John Callahan called Charlie Dent’s bluff and showed how he will stand up to party leaders when it’s the right thing to do, and he remains hopeful that Dent will stop using technicalities as an excuse for once again putting the interests of big corporations and his friends in Washington ahead of the interests of Main Street and middle class families,” campaign manager Justin Schall said in a prepared response.

Shawn Millan, Dent's campaign manager, questioned who was going to receive Callahan's version of the letter as it was addressed to "Whom It May Concern."

"For all we know, Callahan was going to put this letter into a bottle and throw it into the ocean," Millan said.

The letter stems from a news release Callahan's campaign issued a little more than a week ago. Callahan took Dent to task for receiving campaign money from Rep. Joe Barton. Barton, a Republican, was recently criticized for apologizing to BP for the $20 billion escrow fund that President Obama’s administration asked BP to create to cleanup the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Dent responded by asking Callahan to join him in a bipartisan letter to President Obama, calling for BP money to be donated to charities. After inviting the media to join him, Callahan on Thursday delivered a letter (Download BP Callahan letter)to Dent's office with the salutation "To Whom It May Concern," asking all elected federal officials donate the money to charity.

For the record, neither Dent nor Callahan took money from BP PACs or executives.

For the second time, the Senate failed to approve a procedural motion that would have advanced legislation to extend unemployment benefits for jobless Americans.

Gov. Ed Rendell has lobbied intensely for Congress to pass the bill and in doing so include $24 billion in Medicaid reimbursement for the states. Rendell is counting on $850 million from that to balance the state budget. Without that money, Rendell has threatened that he'll be forced to cut thousands of government jobs.

The Democrats pared down the Medicaid funding to $16 billion in the second attempt to pass the benefits bill. The House Democrats had completely removed the extra money (it was first included in the stimulus law) to drive down costs. The Senate Democrats put it back in after governors like Rendell warned that the money was the lifeblood for a lot of states.

Sen. Bob Casey, before the vote, when asked about the likelihood of it being voted down, said "saying its frustrating doesn't begin to describe it."

"This idea that we're pretending like the recovery is done and completed, it's not true," Casey said. "To pull up the ladder on people..."

Casey said now they have to find other ways to get the money passed. Improving each program as a stand alone bill is one option.

"If this doesn't pass over the next couple of weeks...it's going to very harmful to the economy not to ... help vulnerable people and those who are out of work," Casey said. "It's one step forward and two or three back."

Taking a brief break as a host to the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities convention Thursday in his hometown, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahananswered a challenge by his congressional opponent, U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, to send a bipartisan letter regarding political contributions and BP.

In a letter (Download BP Callahan letter) addressed “To Whom It May Concern,” Callahan writes that the oil spill in the Gulf is the “greatest environmental disaster” the country has ever faced and it was worsened by BP’s “negligence and corporate greed as well as ineffective oversight from the federal government.”

BP’s ability to contribute millions to elected officials charged with overseeing the cleanup and recovery makes such confidence impossible, Callahan said, and the contributions should instead be donated to groups helping families affected by the oil spill.

Dent, R-15, had mounted the challenge of a bipartisan letter last week after Callahan took him to task on a $10,500 contribution from U.S. Rep. Joe Barton’s leadership PAC. Barton was recently criticized for apologizingto BP for the $20 billion escrow fund that President Obama’s administration asked BP to create to cleanup the Gulf oil spill.

Callahan renewed the call Thursday for Dent to give back the Barton money and delivered the letter regarding BP contributions to Dent’s offices in Bethlehem.

Dent’s campaign dismissed the letter as a “political tactic” and not policy. The campaign pointed out that Callahan was challenged to write a letter directly to President Obama, who could lead by example by donating his own BP contributions.

Republicans want Congressman Paul Kanjorski to apologize for comments that they say insinuate minorities are not “average, good American people."

The vulnerable Democrat said during a financial reform meeting yesterday that he’s not fighting for relief for, “people that aren’t responsible, that don’t know what the hell they’re doing or don’t care what they’re doing.

“We’re giving relief to people who I deal in my office with every day now unfortunately that because of the longevity of the recession, these are people — and they’re not in minorities and they’re not defective and they’re not all the things you’d like to insinuate that these programs are. These are average, good American people. Most of them have been veterans or served, responsible, have worked all their lives. But they’re not full of money. They live paycheck to paycheck and they always will because they’re in the lower margin of our society.”

Kanjorski spokeswoman Abigail McDonough said the 48-second clip which Republicans find problematic was taken out of context, but she declined to elaborate on why Kanjorski seemed to seperate minorities from "average good American people." Here’s the five-minute version.

The conference committee was held to reconcile House and Senate versions of the financial regulatory bill. Kanjorski, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, was defending a national version of a foreclosure prevention program similar to one in Pennsylvania.

A spokesman for Lou Barletta, the Hazelton major trying for a third time to unseat the 13-term incumbent, called the comments proof Kanjorksi is out of touch.

"Rather than insulting his constituents and profiling people as 'minorities' and 'defective', I think the congressman should be more concerned about creating jobs and cutting spending,” spokesman Vince Galko said.

Barletta's stance against illegal immigration launched his national profile. He sought to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and employers who hired them, but a federal judge deemed the law unconstitutional; the city's appeal of the decision is pending.

McDonough called critics "grossly misinformed" because "Congressman Kanjorski is fighting for all Americans who are struggling."

“In his impassioned plea for conferees to adopt Pennsylvania’s model program to help homeowners facing foreclosure to stay in their homes, the Congressman was stating that many people insinuate that those who benefit from government programs are those not looking for jobs, but that those suggestions are wildly inaccurate,” she said.

The 11th district includes all of Carbon, Monroe and Columbia counties and parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne. Census data show 87.6 percent of residents are white, 4.4 percent are black, 5.7 percent are Hispanic and 1.2 percent are Asian.

Republicans best not put former Sen. Rick Santorum up against Sen. Bob Casey in the 2012 election for a rematch. (Was that an option?)

Casey would destroy Santorum 59 percent to 39 percent, according to a new poll out Thursday.

According to Public Policy Polling:

"Pennsylvania’s soon-to-be-senior Senator Bob Casey has accomplished a rare feat for a Democratic politician, or for any politician, in this anti-incumbent, Republican-leaning political environment: he has upped his job performance numbers since April 1st, the last day PPP polled the state. Meanwhile, in a potential 2012 sequel to the 2006 contest in which Casey ousted former Senator Rick Santorum, Casey would get a majority and beat the Republican by double digits. Casey leads Santorum in the hypothetical redo, 51-39."

Sen. Bob Casey, who holds a leadership spot on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised President Obama's decision to name Gen. David Petraeus to lead the war in Afghanistan. Obama chose Petraeus immediately upon removing Stanley McChrystal from the post in the wake of a damning profile in Rolling Stone magazine.

“I welcome the appointment of General David Petraeus to serve as U.S. Commander in Afghanistan and call for his immediate confirmation by the Senate. General Petraeus has an exemplary record as Commander of U.S. Central Command. He led U.S. forces with distinction in Iraq. General Petraeus has once again answered his country’s call to duty at this perilous time in our history. There is no better man for the job. “His appointment should renew the resolve of the international effort in Afghanistan and I am confident that he will seamlessly step in to his new assignment leading forces fighting the Taliban and extremists in Afghanistan.”

Another attempt by Republicans to delve deeper into the details of Joe Sestak's White House job offer fell short Wednesday.

A U.S. House panel blocked a Republican measure to direct the Justice Department to release all documents pertaining to the White House's efforts to persuade Joe Sestak not to run for the U.S. Senate.

A motion to "adversely report" the resolution of inquiry narrowly passed 15-12 by the House Judiciary Committee, asked that the U.S. Attorney General turn over all communication the Justice Department had regarding "discussions of administration appointments by White House Staff, or persons acting on behalf of White House staff, with any candidate for public office in exchange for such candidate's withdrawal from any election..."

The author of the measure, Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, said in prepared remarks that he is "disappointed" the resolution was even necessary to get more information from the Obama administration.

"It is a crime to offer someone a federal appointment as a reward for withdrawing from a primary election race," Smith said. "The Attorney General has a responsibility to ensure that all political officials -- including Administration officials -- follow this law."

Since Sestak first admitted four months ago that he had been offered a job by the White House to bow out of the U.S. Senate primary against Sen. Arlen Specter, Republicans have made it their mission to uncover whether the offer broke federal law.

After months of silence, the White House, under intense pressure from Republicans and Democrats alike, revealed that it had been former President Bill Clinton who called Sestak to convince him to remain in the U.S. House to avoid a contentious race in his Delaware County district. If he chose to do so, Sestak could have a position on a presidential advisory board as well.

Shortly thereafter, news broke that the White House offered a federal job to Andrew Romanoff in Colorado to persuade him not to run against endangered incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet.

Iowa Republican Steve King, calling it the "Sestak scandal" said its imperative to learn how the Justice Department may have advised the White House on the offers.

Rep. Bobby Scott, Democrat from Virginia, said there is "no credible evidence" that the Justice Department has any information, or offered "guidance or recommendation"pertaining to either the Sestak or the Romanoff job offers.

Nearly every Republican present took the five minutes allotted them to speak on behalf of the resolution.

Darrell Issa, the California Republican who has the led the charge for information by writing numerous letters requesting more information to various officials in the Obama administration, said, as he has in the past, that at the least the offer was unethical.

"Congressman Sestak has done nothing but tell us something that should have never happened, happened," Issa said.

Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Joe Sestak are in a statistical dead heat with a little more than four months left until Election Day, according to a new poll released today.

Public Policy Polling, located in North Carolina, found both Toomey and Sestak are tied at 41 percent each. Of those polled, most described themselves as either moderate or conservative.

A little less than half of 609 Pennsylvania voters surveyed still had not formed opinions of either Toomey or Sestak. Exactly half had unfavorable opinions of President Barack Obama while 43 percent approved of his job performance.

McChrystal, the top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, has been called back to Washington, DC to explain himself.

"We are taught in the military that if you don't agree with what your
commander, or you have certain comments about your commander with regard
to what you think, you say that behind closed doors," Sestak said. "Once you open up
that door and go outside, it is a political official who is over you. It
is civilian control and so he made a mistake."

Congressman Charlie Dent and his Democratic opponent, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, traded some punches last week about the types of money being contributed to each other’s campaign.

Dent called out Callahan for allowing the law firm Nelson Mullins, Riley and Scarborough for holding a Washington, D.C., fundraiser for him last week. The large firm is reported to be representing VISA USA Inc. on a financial regulatory reform before Congress. Dent says the fundraiser isn’t consistent with Callahan’s “campaign rhetoric,” which attacked a Dent fundraiser a couple of weeks ago.

“John Callahan keeps repeating scripted talking points about ‘contributions from Wall Street Commercial Banks and Securities & Investment Industry special interests’,” Dent’s camp said in a prepared release. “Callahan’s hypocrisy is growing as is the credibility gap between his rhetoric and reality.”

Campaign manager Justin Schall dismissed the news release, saying the power of regulatory reform is not in a law firm’s hands but Congress’. Dent has repeatedly voted against regulatory reform, Schall said. (Dent has said he voted against previous bills because they perpetuated further bank bailouts.)

Callahan’s camp, in a separate release, pointed out that Dent’s campaign took $10,500 from Texas Freedom Fund, a political action committee of Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.Barton came under fire last week when he sided with big oil over President Obama’s administration at a congressional hearing. At the hearing, Barton apologized to BP for the $20 billion escrow fund that the administration asked BP to create to cleanup the Gulf oil spill.

Like other Republicans last week, Dent distanced himself from Barton and supported the $20 million escrow fund. A blog for The Hill last week reported a Republican lawmaker calling on Barton to step down from his committee post.

Callahan’s camp is pushing Dent to give back the $10,500 and wanted to know if Dent thinks Barton should “step down over his apology to BP.” Callahan tallied $113,047 that Dent has received from oil and gas special interests.

“Congressman Dent has taken $10,500 from Joe Barton's leadership PAC and a lot of that money came from oil special interests,” Callahan said in a prepared statement. “I think Congressman Dent should do the right thing and give that money to one of the many charities working to help the families affected by this crisis.”

Dent’s camp pointed out that the congressman has never taken "a single dime" from BP yet the leader of Callahan’s party – President Obama – has received more than $75,000 in contributions directly from BP’s PAC and employees and Democrat Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has taken at least $6,000.

“When John sends out a release telling President Obama and Steny Hoyer to give their BP cash to a Gulf charity, then he’ll be doing something other than spouting talking points from the DCCC,” Dent’s campaign said in a statement. “…If John Callahan wants to send a bipartisan letter to President Obama regarding giving his campaign contributions to charity, he knows how to reach us.”

Republican Pat Toomey launched a new web video this morning, noting that his Democrat opponent Joe Sestak is out in San Francisco today (home to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi).

So what is Sestak doing out in San Fran today?

Sestak was invited to speak at the Commonwealth Club, which describes itself on its website as "the nation's oldest and largest public forum, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that hosts more than 450 events a year featuring important speakers, panels, and debates on the important topics of the day."

Here's an excerpt from his speech today:

"That trust has been devastated by fraud and failure in virtually every area of public life. People have been let down and lead astray — to disastrous consequences —by government and politicians, corporations and titans of business, civic leaders and experts of all stripes. Unbelievable lapses of oversight and foresight have occurred across administrations and on the watch of both parties.

The government of the people has never been held in such low regard by the people. And yet, we must find a way to work together and move forward. We need to restore trust. The only way to do that is with facts, accountability, and results."

Sestak did have plans to do some fundraising while in California but was not with Pelosi during his visit, according to the Sestak campaign. The campaign also responded to Toomey's video, which links Sestak's policy positions to Pelosi's.

"While Joe is talking about bringing people together to focus on pragmatic solutions, Congressman Toomey is putting out the kind of tired political rhetoric that has muddled the debate for too long," April Mellody, Sestak's new communications director, said.

Republican Pat Toomey is out with a new web video today superimposing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrat Joe Sestak at different San Francisco landmarks while showing past statements each have made on "liberal" policies like health care reform, the stimulus package, and cap and trade legislation.

ICYMI The Morning Call ran a story Sunday comparing Toomey and Sestak on their voting records and political ideologies. Read it here.

Gleason sent a letter to Gov. Ed Rendell's office today asking for the release of any communication between Rendell and the White House regarding Sestak and attempts to convince him to get out of the U.S. Senate race against Arlen Specter.

“Pennsylvanians deserve to know the truth about the White House’s attempt to bribe Joe Sestak out of the U.S. Senate race,” Gleason said. “After months of watching the Democrats constantly change their story about ‘Job-gate,’ it’s become clear that the only way we’re going to get to the truth out is if all parties involved put their cards on the table and show us the truth."

Rendell has admitted to having discussions with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel about Sestak and now the state Republicans want details.

Issa, the California Republican credited with leading the charge for answers about Sestak's job offer, was the keynote speaker in Hershey last Friday. Issa has made requests for investigations from the U.S. Special Counsel to the FBI to determine whether the White House broke any laws in attempting to interfere in a federal election.

Republicans scrambled yesterday to distance themselves from one of their own: Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who created a firestorm when he sided with big oil over the Obama administration at a congressional hearing. Barton apologized to BP for the $20 billion escrow fund the White House asked the company to create to cleanup the Gulf oil spill.

Lehigh Valley Republican Rep. Charlie Dent joined the chorus of lawmakers who raced to make it known that they did not share Barton's views.

In a statement, Dent said:

“I categorically disagree with the comments made by my colleague from Texas, Congressman Joe Barton, regarding the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

I strongly support the creation of a $20 billion escrow fund to pay the costs associated with this environmental disaster that is wreaking havoc on the economy of the Gulf region and the lives of its residents.

As I have stated in the past, BP has earned great profits from the oil rigs it operates in the Gulf of Mexico and now must bare the full financial burden for the failure of Deepwater Horizon.”

Barton, a leading Republican on energy issues, apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the "$20 billion shakedown" In prepared remarks, Barton said, “I’m only speaking for myself — I’m not speaking for anybody else — but I
apologize. I do not want to live in a
country where any time a citizen or corporation that does something
that is legitimately wrong, is subject to some sort of political
pressure that is again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I
apologize.”

Politico has a good rundown of the backlash caused by Barton's comments.

UPDATED John Callahan's campaign would like me to point out that they asked Dent for his position on Barton before Dent put out a statement.

The Pennsylvania Democrats hold their summer meeting this weekend, but the party's rising star isn't sure he can make it.

Joe Sestak's campaign said today it is still working on whether he'll be able to attend, but that "we'd like to try to make it."

The event is an opportunity for candidates to come mingle with party faithful from across the commonwealth. Sestak's absence would be consistent with his pledge to distance himself from establishment politics.

It may also be a little awkward since these are the same people who in February overwhelmingly voted to endorse Arlen Specter over Sestak.

When the Senate failed to move forward on an extension package for a number of benefits and tax break programs, it was back to the drawing board for the Democrats.

The Democrats are going to have to strip down spending in the bill in order to garner support from all the senators in their caucus and at least one Republican (likely Maine's Olympia Snowe). A procedural motion to continue on with the bill failed Wednesday morning 45-52.

To Gov. Ed Rendell's delight, Sen. Max Baucus, the author of the bill, does not intend to take out the $24 billion in Medicaid money that Rendell says is essential to balancing his state budget, according to Congressional Quarterly. Rendell reiterated today that he would start laying off government workers in July if he did not receive the federal funding for Medicaid.

Arlen Specter made public today a letter he sent to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan with a list of questions he intends to ask her when she comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the end of the month.

He asks her about increasing the Court's workload, the recent decision to give corporations First Amendment rights, allowing television cameras in the courtroom, and the Court's disregard for facts found by Congress.

Reporter Nicole Radzievich's update on the Congressional race in the 15th District:

The General Election may be 4 1/2 months away, but the campaigns of Congressman Charlie Dent and his Democratic challenger, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, produced a flurry of news releases within the past week. Last Monday, as an example, they issued dueling news releases trying to associate each other with Wall Street.

First, Dent’s campaign took to task Callahan’s decision six years ago to delay the refinancing of a $66 million bond, recounting accusations that Callahan was trying to steer the underwriting work to a particular firm. Dent’s campaign characterized the delay as costing taxpayers more than $1.5 million in lost interest savings.

Then, Callahan’s campaign issued their own release taking aim at an upcoming financial reform bill. It urges people to sign a petition, telling Dent to stop voting against “holding Wall Street accountable,” and released a Web ad, a “Dent in your Pocket.” The release points out Dent voted against bills that aimed at reforming Wall Street and his vote to give the banking industry a $850,000 “bank bailout” – otherwise known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program -- under the Bush administration.

(Dent has said he voted against previous financial reforms because he believes those proposals perpetuate future bank bailouts and he said in May he still assessing details of the Senate's plan.).